Ramblings from Oz

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Aside from the hilarity of the caricatures (pardon me here, but I must take umbrage with the idea that Giuliani is somehow qualified to do anything of this sort) presented in this quick rundown of the early candidates, I can't help but think about that last sentence,

I’ll say one thing: Electing Hillary Clinton by default would constitute national suicide.

I just looked over the list of the firearms included in the Next Coming™, and since he did ask The Faithful™ to jump on this, and as I'm sure we'll all get quizzed on this later, I thought I'd give my two cents worth on the subject regarding the listed arms per the new outline of what is to be effected.

`(i) AK, AKM, AKS, AK-47, AK-74, ARM, MAK90, Misr, NHM 90, NHM 91, SA 85, SA 93, VEPR; Check`(ii) AR-10; Eh, OK piece, but I think I've got something better.`(iii) AR-15, Bushmaster XM15, Armalite M15, or Olympic Arms PCR; Working on it.`(iv) AR70; Don't tease me. Seriously, Beretta USA, you have a MARKET here...time's wasting.`(v) Calico Liberty; You can't be serious.`(vi) Dragunov SVD Sniper Rifle or Dragunov SVU; A real SVD would be neat, but I don't really care to stock that cartridge. Too bad.`(vii) Fabrique National FN/FAL, FN/LAR, or FNC; FNC, how trés chic...straight outta HEAT.`(viii) Hi-Point Carbine; See (v)`(ix) HK-91, HK-93, HK-94, or HK-PSG-1; Check`(x) Kel-Tec Sub Rifle; Neat stash-it-in-the-trunk piece. Who's buying?`(xi) M1 Carbine; Serious fun piece here. CMP is coming out with a run of these soon, but again another caliber.`(xii) Saiga; If you're looking for well built AKs, these are nice. In .308 even.`(xiii) SAR-8, SAR-4800; It might be a Springer, but again, I've got the real McCoy, so I'd go that direction.`(xiv) SKS with detachable magazine; I can't say this enough, NO DETACH MAGS ON THE SKS! It's simply not worth the feeding hassles.`(xv) SLG 95; `(xvi) SLR 95 or 96; Ooooh, ARSENAL.`(xvii) Steyr AUG; See (vii)`(xviii) Sturm, Ruger Mini-14; To each their own, but, well... I'd just as soon hit at what I'm aiming.`(xix) Tavor; Never seen one in the flesh, and I don't know anyone who has.`(xx) Thompson 1927, Thompson M1, or Thompson 1927 Commando; or I don't smoke cigars or own a fedora. Stick and drum mags are neat though.`(xxi) Uzi, Galil and Uzi Sporter, Galil Sporter, or Galil Sniper Rifle (Galatz). Got something against the Joooos, punks? Seriously, good stuff.

All of this is well and good, as my armory is fairly well stocked and squared away, but the part that really got me was this;

`(L) A semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General. In making the determination, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a firearm procured for use by the United States military or any Federal law enforcement agency is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event.’

So, what you're trying to say with this language, Ms. McCarthy, is that a gun must meet a sporting purpose definition for me to own it, and it must not be of a design for "military or law enforcement" purposes, even if it is intended and designed for sporting uses as well or exclusively, since just about any gun could be defined by the A.G. as not being suitable for sporting purposes, and even changed at a whim, most notably YOURS, it seems.

Great, that's just fantastic. It only confirms my suspicions about your totalitarian attitudes towards ruling us sheeple, so all I can say about your definitions is, "Fuck you, Bitch, and fuck your cunt-sucking bill!"

Conclusion; I don't trust the Donks as far as I can throw them, and I'm sure they're going to try something as soon as they think they can actually get away with it. I need more money, for obvious reasons.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

What a tool!

Better stock up on ammo while I can, because this little stunt is a VPC wet dream, and I'm sure they'll be using it in early '09 as some kind of trumpet for more citizen, er..."gun control".

Idjit.

Update, 2/21/07:Billy Beck is livid, and sticks it to Zumbo the Dumbo, and others, who've spewed nothing but rot on this. He covers the only aspects of the matter that are relevant. End of fucking story.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

A New Acquisition

Last night, I narrowed the field considerably. For about the last dozen years, I've owned, and still own for that matter, a number of .380, .32 and 9mm pistols. Recently, I've taken a liking to large frame/caliber revolvers and do have some but I've just had this itch for something in .45 ACP, and in a 1911 platform.

The reasons are plenty. Having shot DA 9's for so long you'd think I'd have gotten use to the traditional triggers of such and the disproportionately long travel and reset on these things, but I must admit to being aggravated by not being able to do quick transitions and doubles on targets. They just aren't setup to shoot quickly with pin-point accuracy. Most of this, I have come to the conclusion, is because of the levered trigger, typical to almost all DA's. The lockwork is just not setup for precise, short, coordinated movement at the fingertips. Precisely squeezing, using the whole forearm and fist wrapped around the damned Europellet-dispensing, double stack, double-action grip is too much to ask of my physiology when acquiring and neutralizing multiple moving targets. Call me slow on the uptake, but I think I've finally figured it out, I've always loved the ergonomics of the 1911, and I finally did something about that. Besides, having nothing in an autoloader in something bigger than 9mm had me questioning my patriotism, the .45 ACP is the benchmark from which all others shall be judged, right?

Meet my Springfield Armory Mil-Spec™.

The frame is marked as being manufactured by IMBEL of Brazil, for Springfield and their site confirms that the slide is as well. No bother, as I have full confidence in both IMBEL, who have a long history of making various firearms, and Springfield's quality. Good forgings, a parkerized finish and few frills was exactly what I was wanting in a basic 1911, and this is precisely what they deliver.

Its high spots, besides the obvious benefits of the .45/1911 platform, being the sights are a step up from the GI type, the mag well has a slight bevel and the ejection port is lowered and flared for better reliability (less stove-piping on ejection).

The negatives are the sights aren't Novak, the trigger, while crisp and fairly light, could still use some work, the slide release, being the "issue" type, is far too short (extended unit will need to be fitted in the future) and the thumb safety paddle is too small and requires a little too much force to disengage said safety. All of these items can be easily addressed with the flood of aftermarket parts available for it, so picking one that I like is really the only hard part. Suggestions of parts and manufacturers welcome.

Part II to follow with a range test, hopefully in the not too distant future.